Accountants who began their careers 30, 20 or even 10 years ago would have struggled to picture what their world of work would look like today. Accountancy is seen as a safe career option – the world will, after all, always need accountants – but that doesn’t mean that any qualified professional can or should be complacent about how their career will unfold.
So, what can professional accountants do to prepare themselves for the unknown? A major new ACCA report, Career paths reimagined: The changing world of work, aims to set out the context that professionals will need to make career decisions that are coming their way.
The report forms part of a suite of ACCA resources, including Global talent trends, which explores how careers in the accountancy and finance profession may evolve between now and 2035. Together, these resources aim to help accountants understand trends and maximise their career potential. ‘Those who appreciate and adapt to the changes will benefit from stimulating and rewarding careers,’ says the report.
The new report analyses the eight main drivers of change that may lead finance professionals to rethink their career path.
Career paths, the report stresses, are individual and personal, influenced by factors such as salary, work-life balance and happiness. But the study’s key message is that their fundamental nature is changing and the traditional, strictly linear path is disappearing. In the UK (and many other developed nations), this is a cause of anxiety among younger professionals.
Optimism dips
As part of the research, around 2,600 ACCA members, affiliates and future members, and 145 Approved Employers were asked how optimistic they felt about their future career. The results show that respondents from the UK felt slightly less optimistic about their career path in the next five to 10 years than their counterparts in other regions; 70% of respondents from Africa, for example, were optimistic about their future, whereas only 51% of UK respondents said the same – and 28% said they were pessimistic. (Tap or click on each tab for a regional comparison.)
The lower confidence levels of professionals in the UK, argues the report, are partly connected to the erosion of the classic ‘ladder’ career model, where professionals ascend steadily through a series of well-defined roles.
The report also highlights ‘evidence of a mismatch between the supply of accounting graduates and the availability of traditional accounting roles’, partly due to the recent economic climate in the UK, which is causing some graduates to move into unrelated sectors.
The attractiveness of traditional roles, especially in audit, is declining, it adds, suggesting that a reframing of the value and purpose of these roles is needed.
Organisational structures will favour ‘the flexible specialist in a generalist world’
The report concludes that traditional career paths in the profession worldwide are giving way to more fluid pathways that are shaped by skills rather than titles: ‘less linear, more flexible and personalised in nature, shorter term in focus, and more adaptive to circumstance and opportunity’.
This point was raised many times during UK roundtable discussions, with participants pointing out that career switching and movement between roles is becoming more prevalent. UK participants also discussed how workers are becoming less loyal to individual employers, with shorter tenures and increased mobility replacing long-term commitment.
Success, the report argues, now depends on the ability to adapt, learn continuously and navigate a landscape where career paths are more self-directed. Organisational structures, it adds, will tend to favour ‘the flexible specialist in a generalist world’ – and it will be important for finance professionals to focus on the short term, next career steps over longer term ambitions.
Skills focus
Maintaining and building relevant skills is essential in this landscape. More than half (57%) of UK respondents agreed that they would need to develop new skills in the next five to 10 years, and 70% identified AI and technology as key skills that they needed to develop.
The report stresses that building non-technical skills is also vital. Overall, it identifies and explores 10 critical skills domains that are needed for a successful career.
While this may seem overwhelming, the report stresses that ‘the opportunities to grow and thrive have never been greater to those prepared to embrace change. Careers will be flexible and dynamic – but the journey will definitely be worthwhile.’
More information
Find more regional insights from across the world. See also ACCA’s Accountancy Redefined initiative and changes to the ACCA qualification
